Ron Taverner quits as next OPP commissioner

TORONTO — Ron Taverner will not be the next commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

The provincial government on Wednesday said cabinet had accepted his request to withdraw from consideration amid accusations of political interference in the appointment.

In an emailed letter to Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones, Taverner said he asked to be removed “to protect the integrity of rank and file police officers given the controversy surrounding my appointment.”

Jones accepted that request and in a statement thanked him for his service.

A family friend of Premier Doug Ford, Taverner’s appointment as commissioner in November quickly drew allegations of favouritism and executive overreach. It was put on ice the following month after Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake announced he was investigating the selection.

OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair, who also applied for the top job, appealed to Wake to conduct a wider investigation into the appointment process and other allegations of political interference in the OPP. Blair has taken the ombudsman to court to force him to launch the probe and was fired on Monday from the OPP.

Wake’s investigation was requested by the NDP after iPolitics first reported that the job qualifications for the position were lowered — paving the way for Taverner to apply for the job. His investigation is ongoing.

In a statement that didn’t directly address Falconer’s allegations, the government defended the process that led to Blair’s firing. Ford’s spokesperson Simon Jefferies pointed out that “some of the most senior civil servants from across government” were involved in the decision and many of them have served “governments of all political stripes.”

The NDP and Green Party have been calling for a public inquiry into Blair’s firing and Taverner’s hiring. The government has so far rejected those calls.

“Supt. Ron Taverner did what Doug Ford has continuously refused to do, and preserved the OPP’s integrity with his withdrawal,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a statement.

“This mysterious and abrupt about-face makes a full public inquiry into Doug Ford’s meddling in the OPP all the more critical. “

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner thanked Taverner for his decision. In a statement he said he expects the next appointment process for OPP commissioner to be independent, transparent and conducted with “absolutely no conflict of interest or meddling from the Premier.”